A fleeing drug smuggler is certainly a danger to them when they claim they saw him turn around with something in his hand. Even if it was later found to be a rock, rocks can kill.
Add to that the prosecutor suppressing evidence at the trial and this whole thing looked much worse than it was.
If the jury had known that the perp was a drug smuggler and that the agents were at least part right they would not have gotten such long sentences.
Probably no jail time just some punishment for the reporting problems.
In other words, the defense should have been able to make an emotional appeal to the jury - hoping that the fact that the complaining witness was a dirtbag would convince the jury to ignore all the rest.
I reiterate: if it was a clean shoot - as they claim now it was - then they would have been zealous in making sure the scene of the incident was kept pristine and they would have been eager to set down every last detail of what they saw and did in writing so that they wouldn't forget any facts that would help exonerate them.
Instead, they tampered with the scene and they avoided their obligation to file a report.
Of course, but the jury didn't buy it and frankly neither did I after I read the trial transcripts. They just made it up.
"Add to that the prosecutor suppressing evidence at the trial and this whole thing looked much worse than it was."
The prosecutor didn't suppress any evidence, it was brought up by the defense and the judge ruled it inadmissible because one it was only a statement by another drug smuggler and had nothing to do with whether the shoot that day was good.
"If the jury had known that the perp was a drug smuggler and that the agents were at least part right they would not have gotten such long sentences."
The perp admitted in court he knew he was smuggling drugs that day so the jury knew he was a drug smuggler. No matter how many times he smuggled drugs it had nothing to do with whether Ramos and Compean engaged in a cover up, tampered with evidence or whether they had justifiable cause that day to shoot him.
"Probably no jail time just some punishment for the reporting problems."
They were convicted of engaging in a cover up, tampering with evidence and trying to kill a fleeing suspect without justifiable cause. It had nothing to do with a reporting problem.